I know
by Misa A. chan
Summary: “He hates you.” Hichigo knew it, he was reminded of it every time he remembered the battle against Byuakua, but it still stung to hear it. “I know...” The vizard solemnly answered. **WILL NOT BE CONT.**
1. Ch 1 : I know

A pale man stood all alone on the side of tall blue building, he was pacing back and forth restlessly, as if he had a problem that he simply couldn't solve.

"**Hi! Yer hollow here… I jus' wanted to say sorry 'bout tryin' t' take over yer body... multiple times... Umm... But, yer welcome fer weakenin' tha' Kuchiki guy for ya... Not that ya couldn't have! Just..." **Hichigo let out a long sigh.

"Why is it so tough for me to think about you?" Angrily, he whipped his fist around, causing it to collide painfully with the hard concrete building. "Why is it so tough to talk to him when he's not even here?!" The albino kicked the side of the building in frustration, creating a resounding 'crack' as the concrete was crushed under the force of the impact.

"**Why?" **Kick.

"**Why?!" **Punch.

"**WHY?!" **Head butt.

The teen fell to his knees, panting heavily as an unnoticed trickle of blood oozed down his pale forehead.

"Troubled young one?" The albino lifted his head up slightly in acknowledgment.

"**Whadda ya want, Old man?" **Hichigo was not in the mood for this, he never was.

"What is it you want, Hollow?" _**Here he goes again.. All full of wisdom and crap... **_Hichigo thought silently.

"**Oh, knock it off, old man. I'm not in the mood for your shit." **The teen grumbled back, rolling his eyes.

"You never are."

"**Yeah well, ya don't seem to take a hint." **He growled, scowling at the unshaven man before him.

"Something is different about you, Shirosaki..."

"**Maybe a hair cut?" **He shot back, voice dripping with sarcasm. Zangetsu gave him a quizzical look.

"No, I think it has something to do with Ichigo..."

"**So, what if it _does_ have something to do with King?" **He snarled, baring his pointed teeth.

"He hates you." Hichigo flinched, wrapping his arms around his knees, head bowed. He knew that, he knew Ichigo hated him… It had been clear when they had fought Byakuya, Ichigo would never trust him…

"**I know..." **The hollow whispered solemnly.

"He thinks you're a monster." Zangetsu stated dryly.

"**I know..." **The pale teen gripped his head, willing himself to not hear what the zanpactou spirit was telling him.

"He doesn't know who you really are."

"**I get it old man..." **He could feel the anger bubbling up inside him, the urge to hurt, the urge to kill…

"He thinks he'd be better off without you…"

"**ENOUGH!" **Hichigo lunged at Zangetsu, clawed hands balled into fists as he lashed out at the tall man. But when he was sure his hand would make impact, it simply passed through thin air. **"Dammit!" **He cursed, hitting the ground with a dull thud.

"So answer me this Hichigo Shirosaki, if you know what Ichigo thinks of you, do you know what you think of Ichigo?"

"**What the fuck does that mean?!" **The hollow glared angrily at the zanpactou spirit.

"Hollow! Does Ichigo know how you feel about him?" His voice rumbled through the inner world, making Hichigo shiver unconsciously at just how ancient this man was. Far more so than himself, even if he was a hollow.

"**If he did, do you think I'd be thinking up apology speeches**?!" Hichigo screeched indignantly.

"Why doesn't he know?" Zangetsu questioned forcefully, anger fading.

"**Because I haven't told him yet!" **Hichigo replied, feeling pressured by the older man's continuous line of questions.

"Then what do you think of him?" The hollow glared at his feet, as if they were the cause of all his problems.

"**I... I... I'm not sure!"**

"HOLLOW!" Hichigo winced. "If you don't know what you think of him, how are you supposed to tell him?!"

"**I think... I might... L-love him?" **Hichigo squeaked. Zangetsu stopped ranting instantly. A long pause followed the almost confession.

"What?" The older man asked, dumbfounded.

"**I might love him... Or I at least have a crush on him, a strong crush... maybe..." **Hichigo blushed madly. The older man blinked, straightened himself up, cleared his throat and readjusted his shades.

"Well then... I'll hide this from Ichigo, and I presume you want no pity from me?"

"**What do you think, Old man?" **Hichigo asked with a scowl.

"Well, good luck then." And with that, Zangetsu left. Hichigo let out a sigh or relief and walked to the edge of one of the buildings.

He snickered at the thought of the poor, traumatized Zangetsu. With his 'shit eating grin' (as Ichigo put it) plastered across his face, he looked up at the sky and yelled, **"Oi! King! Yer welcome! But next time, I want a thank you when I save yer ass!"**

--

"Thank you..." Ichigo murmured under his breath.

"Eh? Did you say something, Kurosaki-kun?" Orihime asked.

"Huh? Um, no. Just talking to myself." Ichigo replied. Orihime, happy with this answer, resumed eating her questionable lunch. Letting out a sigh of relief, Ichigo leaned back against the concrete, brow furrowed in slight confusion. _Who was I thanking? _


	2. ch 2 : Ichigo is coming

It was another peaceful day in the upside-down world. The clouds were white and fluffy, the sky a nice bright blue, the buildings reflecting it all in their endless windows. Hichigo lay quietly on the cold glass, mind drifting toward of his crush, Ichigo. Daydreaming about them together, about their future, a future where they would get along, not hate each other, and battles they could fight together without fear of each other. The hollow sighed sadly, if only his dreams could come true…

A loud cry of "Hollow!" tore across the silent sky. Jolting Hichigo out of his fantasies and awakening him to his reality, Ichigo hated him.

"**What do ya want, old man?" **He huffed, crossing his arms in annoyance.

"Ichigo's coming." The elder man stated dryly.

"**WHAT?!" **Hichigo yelled in shock and surprise.** "When? Where? More importantly WHY?" **The hollow began pacing in a tiny circle, obviously ecstatic over the news.

"Today. The same building he always comes to. And why? Well, I'm not positive about this, but I believe he wants to see you." Zangetsu turned his gaze away from the giggling albino, the sight was rather disturbing… And he didn't want to be there when the hollow figured out why Ichigo was really coming… Zangetsu was right to fear it. Hichigo stood there for a while and then, out of no where, he squealed. A long, fan-girlish squeal. He jumped up and down, and abruptly, he stopped. Zangetsu dared a glance at the hyperactive hollow. All joy had drained from Hichigo's face.

"**He wants t' see me..." **He whimpered, the fright apparent in his inverted eyes.

"Yes…"

"**That can't be good..." **Hichigo slumped to the ground, face in his hands.

"How so?"

"**It means he's going to try to tame me, or kill me, or something else unpleasant..." **The hollow let himself fall backwards onto the ground, landing with a dull thud. He let out a long sigh.

"**Thanks old man, I would've made a complete fool out of myself if you hadn't warned me." **He stated quietly, with honest gratitude.

"What are you planning to do, young one?" Zangetsu asked with general curiosity.

"**Oh, you'll see..." **The teen smirked evilly. And with that, Zangetsu left the love stricken boy alone to his plotting.

"So, what you're saying is, that all I have to do, is going into my inner world, and tame my inner hollow..."

"With violence!" Mashiro piped in.

"Right, with violence… And then I'm done?" The auburn haired teen questioned.

"Yeah, pretty much!" Love answered, glancing up to smile at Ichigo, but quickly returned to reading his manga.

"Um, so how do I get there?" Ichigo asked, terrified of the smile Hiyori was giving him.

"Oh that's the easiest part Berry-tan! Follow me!" Mashiro skipped off to a closed room, Ichigo following closely behind, wondering why Hiyori was smiling like that... Mashiro opened the door for Ichigo and once he was in, she giggled and said "Bye-bye, Berry-tan!" And slammed the door shut.

"Hey! What the fuck do you think you're doing?!" Ichigo yelled banging on the door with his fists. "Let me out!"

"It's for your own safety, Berry-tan!" Mashiro giggled.

"My own safety? What do you mean?! And My name isn't Berry-tan! It's Ichigo Kurosa-" BANG. Ichigo slumped onto the floor unconscious. Shinji looked over the motionless body with a smirk.

"Okay! I've sent him to his inner world! Now one of you guys take over for me!" Shinji called out.

"Nope!" Hiyori called back.

"WHAT?! But you said that if I sent him to his inner world, I wouldn't have first shift!" Shinji whined.

"Too bad! You've got first shift!" Hiyori called back, "Or else!" Shinji gulped. The blonde haired man walked over to the corner opposite of where the unconscious boy lay and sat down.

"This is gonna be a long ten minutes..."


	3. Ch 3: An Agreement

Everyone go give SutaakiHitori some love for being the best beta ever!

"-ki!" Ichigo snorted, sitting up abruptly. The slightly annoyed teen looked around the surrounding landscape and realized he was in his insane, upside down, inner world.

"What am I doing here..." He muttered angrily, rubbing the side his head in an attempt to clear the confusion from it. _Damn_… It felt as though someone had taken a hammer, or some other large, heavy object to his skull. The substitute soul reaper raised himself up shakily, gathering up his bearings.

"Okay... Find my inner hollow... Tame him with violence… Done!" He hummed happily while stretching his muscles in preparation. "Easy!" After completing his exercises, he took in a deep breath, before bellowing as loud as he could.

"HEY HOLLOW! WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU?!"

"**King?" **The redhead swung around, straining to see where the high pitched, echoing reply originated. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed his other running towards him waving and grinning.

_'Wait...' _Ichigo's mind stopped for a second, trying to understand why his blood thirsty hollow would be acting, _friendly_. He could only think of one explanation... it's a trap. The shinigami pulled Zangetsu off his back in one fluid motion while setting himself in a fighting potion. The albino, who had covered about half the distance between the two, stopped dead in his tracks, all joy draining away from his face, leaving only the usual smirk.

"**Ah… The violence approach..." **The inversed teen murmured, shaking his snowy head sadly. **"I thought ya would've been above that King..."**

"I'm here to tame you!" The orange head stated forcefully, not understanding all of what the monster was saying.

"**With violence? That's no good. 'specially 'cause I won't fight ya, an' no way in hell am I goin' down without some effort."** The hollow strode towards him with a smug look on his pale features.

"Look, I don't know what mind games you're trying to pull, but it's not gonna work!" Ichigo yelled angrily at his approaching hollow.

"**Mind games?" **Hichigo let out a cackle, **"These are no mind games, these are attempts at tryin' t' get you and I t' talk."** The hollow grinned at Ichigo's disbelieving expression, as he paced a slow circle around his captive.

"Talk?!" The human spat back, his fiery eyes never leaving the enemy's pale form.

"**Yep! You and I will talk, and we'll try t' come to a compromise. Right here, right now." **The snow colored man sat down, beckoning with his hand for Ichigo to sit down in front of him. Ichigo sat where the hollow had motioned him to, giving the albino a skeptical look.

"**Okay. Now before we can meet a compromise, I need t' learn about ya." **The hollow stated, no sarcasm in his echoing voice.

"Pfft. You know me inside and out, hollow." Ichigo snorted, rolling his eyes.

"**First off, m' name isn't 'hollow', it's Hichigo Shirosaki. And as a reply to your statement, yer right. But, what do ya know about **_**me**_**?" **Hichigo asked with a smirk.

"That you're a hollow that wants to take over my body." He muttered, glaring at the demon in front of him.

"**I'll give ya a B- for your facts. Truth is, I can make my own body. It'd be a spiritual body, but I don't want to be seen be others anyway."**

"Then why do you want my body?!" Ichigo demanded.

"**Ya haven't thought of that any other way? Ya sure it doesn't mean somethin' else?" **Hichigo's smirk widened as Ichigo opened his mouth to retort, before widening his eyes in shock as a deep red blush, formed on his tanned cheeks.

"Y-You l-l-love me?!" He stammered, feeling very awkward as his counterpart stared him down.

"**Pretty much." **The albino's smirk widened at his inverse's beet-red face. Ichigo wondered how wide that smirk could get... could it go off his face?

"**It's rude t' stare, King." **The other's voice snapped Ichigo out of his trance. **"If ya see something ya like, all ya have to do is ask for it."** It might not have been possible, but Ichigo's blush became even darker, red bordering on almost maroon.

"Okay, so, you're in l… lo… looo... Lo…" Ichigo tried in vain to pronounce that elusive word while his hollow rolled his eyes.

"**Love?"**

"Yeah! That… That's why you don't want to fight?" Ichigo asked trying not to stare at the albino's thin, lithe body…

"**Yup! An' I have an important question for you too my King..."**

"What?" Ichigo looked up from Shirosaki's muscular abs to his lips just in time to be kissed by him. The teen's eyes widened in shock as he felt the other's cool lips press forcefully upon his own. Oddly enough, despite every neuron in his brain screaming "Push him off! PUSH HIM OFF!" He just couldn't. Ichigo's mind was falling apart, all his thoughts and memories were blurring as Hichigo sucked sensually on his lips. The kiss lasted for what seemed like forever, but much to Hichigo's displeasure, it only lasted a minute.

"**Was that enjoyable?" **He asked, breaking away from the kiss with a smirk. Ichigo was in a daze, that earth shattering kiss had messed up his thought process.

"I'm not sure... I…" The teen's incoherent stuttering was cut off as Hichigo leaned his head forward once more, capturing the redhead's lips with his own. Ichigo moaned slightly as he felt the hollow's tongue slide into his mouth, exploring his hot cavern hungrily. Ichigo's eyes rolled back in pleasure as the hollow continued it's assault. A few minutes later, Hichigo broke the kiss, eyeing his counterpart's half-lidded eyes.

"Yeah… I-I think so…" Ichigo mumbled dazedly.

"**King, today we've gotta work out a compromise."**Hichigo stated, attempting to appear as mature as he could.

"You're right..." Ichigo said slowly coming back to his right state of mind.

"**Alright, all I ask for is some time out ****o' this place.**** And, I get t' protect ya."**

"How often? And what do you mean, protect me?"

"**That's up to you king, I'd like ****three****days a week minimum. And as for protecting, like I have been so far." **

"I'll think about it..." Ichigo stood up dusted himself off, and offered a hand to his inverse.

"**Try not t' tell people about ****me****, 'kay King? It won't be smiled upon." **Hichigo took his partner's hand and rose to his feet.

"So... How do I get out of here?" Ichigo asked, eyes wandering across the bizarre landscape.

"**I need t' fall unconscious." **Hichigo stated as he dusted himself off.

"So I have to hit you?" Ichigo didn't really want to hurt him.

"**Well, ya could. ****Or ya could just pinch me here,****" **He pointed to the inside of his elbow, **"An' I'll fall unconscious."**

"Really?" Ichigo couldn't believe something that simple would take down someone so powerful.

"**Well, only when I let it..." **That didn't make sense to him, but it didn't really matter. With a quick tug, Hichigo had pulled his love into a soft hug, confusing the other even further. You could tell while they were hugging, that Hichigo was slightly taller than Ichigo. Pulling away, the hollow grinned at him.

"**Love ya Ichi." **Ichigo nodded slowly, casting his eyes downward.

"Maybe…" He murmured softly as the hollow backed away from him and stuck his pale arm out to the side.

"Pinch it." He commanded, to which Ichigo nodded and reached out, giving a sharp pinch to his hollow's elbow. Hichigo winced and fell unconscious, slumping to the ground before his slightly bewildered King.

The next thing Ichigo knew he, was lying on his back, with Kensei standing over him yelling "HE'S AWAKE!"

Shinji, who was also standing besides him, reached down a hand to help Ichigo to his feet. Which the teen grasped firmly and was then pulled up off the ground. The Vizards clustered around him, asking him fervently just what had happened in there. But Ichigo would only shake his head, replying "I'm not sure…"


End file.
